


Rewind

by ravenclawicecream



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, M/M, So much angst, and look out because there's gonna be another au within this au, but you're gonna be happy about it, honestly The Angst never ends, time monsters time travel and murder oh my, yes there'll be some fluff in here too, you're gonna suffer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22396171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawicecream/pseuds/ravenclawicecream
Summary: When a group of superheroes show up to kill him, it's just another Wednesday for Virgil Messana. After five years of being on the run, he's used to the idea people want him dead. That fact is just an unfortunate side effect of having the power to destroy everything you touch. Whatdoessurprise him, however, is when he finds himself agreeing to join those superheros and become part of the team. It's not long until Virgil learns that all the heroes have chapters of their lives they'd rather keep unpublished, along with events they'd rather not relive. And, as he spends more time with the team, he realizes that he may know certain members much better than he'd originally thought.Virgil longs for a moment to figure everything out but by then it's too late. He's already caught up in a bigger scheme; one where they no longer have the power to control their own destinies. With every movement monitored and every action proven to be calculated, the lines between allies and enemies blur, leaving Virgil caught in between. When the stakes are inevitably raised, the remaining heroes must do all they can to change the future of the world. But time has always been a cruel master, and sometimes the only answer is to rewind.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

It was a hell of a way to die. Alone. Friendless. He pressed a hand against the dark spot of blood that was rapidly spreading through his skin-tight suit. Everything was cold. So cold. Why was the world going so numb? He couldn't stop shivering. The blood seemed to never end. His vision was blurring more and more to the point where it was impossible to see anything clearly. He knew that logically the next step would be to get to a hospital but after everything that had happened, everything that he had done, it was better this way. The others were safer this way. It was getting hard to breathe. He pulled on the collar of his suit, desperately trying to loosen it at least a little bit even though he knew that all his efforts were futile. The man knew it was too late for him. He could feel himself losing his grip on reality and he was sure his eyes were deceiving him as he thought he saw a blurry shape coming towards him. Who would save him now? Who would want to? _'It's done,'_ he thought.

His world went dark.

**~~SEVEN MONTHS EARLIER~~**

Virgil hunched his shoulders as he hurried down the street trying to go unnoticed by blending in with the crowd. His method had worked for the most part over the last five years yet Virgil continued to live in fear everyday, sure someone would figure him out especially now that he’d been in the same city for what he considered to be way too long. Every time he went out, he became even more anxious considering all the things that could go wrong, but even though he despised it, he still had to eat and it wasn’t like his food was going to buy itself.

After what felt like forever but was really only a few minutes, he reached the bus stop and wasn’t surprised to find it was already crowded with people. The afternoon rush had begun and though he knew how dangerous it was to be surrounded by so many people, he had learned from experience that this was the easiest way for him to get to places undetected. Virgil stood near the back of the small crowd, simultaneously waiting for the bus and wishing it would arrive faster. He shifted uncomfortably, trembling hands concealed in the deep pockets of his black hoodie as he lowered his gaze to stare at the scuffed toes of his shoes. Despite this, Virgil was keenly aware of how the eyes of the man to his left kept flickering to steal glances at the black clothed boy. Though the strange man stood among lawyers and businessmen, he looked much more like a high school teacher thanks to his black button down shirt and blue tie, not to mention the fact that he was holding a rather thick book on astrophysics. His black framed glasses just completed the look and although the man appeared mostly unassuming, Virgil was instantly suspicious.

By the time the bus arrived, Virgil, feeling uneasy thanks to the man still beside him, hung back as the rest of the crowd surged forward. He hunched his shoulders closer together as people moved past him and remained that way until he was sure the teacher had gotten on already. After he was certain of that, he boarded and quickly moved to the back of the bus to take a seat in the closest corner to an emergency exit. The bus ride itself was uneventful for the most part and though the teacher kept looking at him, Virgil did his best to ignore it until the man’s stop came. Virgil got off at the next stop and from there walked only a few minutes to Wal-Mart. It typically had enough people that he wouldn’t be suspicious nor memorable but not so many that he would become overwhelmed. He liked to keep that reassuring thought in mind but unlike most days, the moment Virgil stepped inside the store he knew he had made a mistake.

The store was swarming with people as far as the eye could see. Virgil’s eyes widened as he froze on the spot. The automatic glass doors closed behind him but he didn’t even notice as he just took in the magnitude of people inside. He could feel his heart racing and his palms were getting slick with sweat as he stayed rooted in place. He felt his body trembling slightly but it felt distant, as though it wasn’t him at all. He couldn’t do this. Not now. Not today. He watched detachedly as people pushed past him, some in costume, some just carrying bags of candy. He forced himself to try and take a few shaky steps into the store in the direction of the grocery section as he pulled his already zipped up hoodie tighter around himself with his one rule on repeat in his mind. _‘No skin can be exposed.’_

He risked a glance in the direction of the most crowded area of the store and his eyes locked onto a collection of plastic orange pumpkins. They looked down on Virgil, their painted on smiles appearing mocking and cruel in the young man’s eyes as he stumbled back, desperate to leave. He could feel himself losing control and suddenly wished that he’d brought the black gloves which were currently sitting on the bed back in his motel room. He took another step back and had been prepared to turn and flee before his back hit something large and solid. He thought it was a shelf at first before he realized it was talking.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, will you?" Virgil felt a large hand on his shoulder as he turned around and came face to face with an unbelievably good looking man who seemed to be about his age. At any other time he would’ve been taken aback just by meeting someone this attractive but Virgil was too distracted to even register it. The man seemed vaguely familiar as did the symbol on the shoulder of his white, skin-tight costume which somehow resembled the suit of both a fairy-tale prince and a superhero. Virgil disregarded it though so as instead to focus on the man’s breathtaking purple eyes when suddenly something resembling recognition passed through them. Virgil quickly pulled away from him and the man seemed to stumble on his words before blurting out an abrupt “wait!”

Virgil ignored him as pushed past the stranger so he could get outside. He started walking as fast as possible without attracting too much attention. Virgil was starting to get disoriented again as he rushed across the parking lot, concentrated solely on trying to get away. He glanced over his shoulder, quickening his pace when he saw the man had followed him out of the store.

“Hey! Hot Topic! Wait up!” Virgil winced as the loud voice reached his ears. Couldn’t he just go away? Virgil had been having enough trouble as it was before he met his dream man who somehow knew him, so why couldn’t he just leave before Virgil died on the spot? Virgil knew that realistically he was way too skinny and underfed to outrun a man who was the literal personification of the word fitness, but he was too stressed out to care as he took off running in the direction of his motel. He could hear the pounding of the man’s feet coming up behind him until that was suddenly replaced with the sound of tires screeching to a stop accompanied with a loud crash. Virgil almost fell in surprise at the noise as he cast a furtive glance over his shoulder and was shocked by the sight that greeted his eyes. A car had been quickly turning a corner when the man had ran in front of it, resulting in him getting hit. The man was in obvious pain lying on top of said car’s windshield which had shattered under his weight. Virgil shuddered involuntarily at the sight but he knew he had to get out of there before the stranger got up so he started running again, only stopping to catch his breath once he was well out of the man’s sight.

Despite not seeing the handsome stranger pursue him any further, Virgil kept running all the way back to the motel, only allowing himself to stop for breath two more times. He was so close. So close to blessed solitude. Only one street away now. He glanced over his shoulder and let out a small breath of relief when he saw that no one had been following him. And yet, when Virgil walked into the motel and unlocked his room he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense that something was wrong. Nonetheless, he was tired, ready to let his guard down, and wanted to sleep for a week, so Virgil simply closed and locked his door before going to the moth-eaten bed and falling back on it.

He kept his eyes closed for a minute while he fished his black gloves out from underneath his back before opening them to study the frayed objects. He had just noticed that one of the fingers on the right hand glove had a small hole in it when a glint of yellow caught the corner of his eye and he jerked upright. He dropped the glove back onto the bed as he made eye contact with a man who had been casually leaning against the wall by the door in Virgil’s room for who knows how long.

The man was dressed like a classic comic book villain in all black with two gold embellishments across the front of his shirt and satin gloves made of the same gold which flaunted a black double headed snake embroidered on the back of each hand. A larger and identical symbol but in shimmering gold had been stitched over his heart on his onyx ankle length cape. The mysterious man also wore a black bowler hat to complete his look but the most terrifying part of it all was his face. The right half was covered by an intricate, pitch-black lace Venetian mask. The left side on the other hand, had been left uncovered to expose stunningly realistic looking snake scales which covered the entirety of that side along with several prominent burn scars. The man’s yellow, snake-like eye stared right back into Virgil’s own panicked brown eyes. 

Virgil leapt to his feet, quickly backing away from the intimidating man and he started to go towards the small window in the room as a means of escape. The intruder held up his hand as if telling him to stop but made no attempt to stop Virgil himself. Virgil, seeing his opportunity and seizing it, bolted for the window, his trembling fingers rushing to unlock the semi broken latch which was the only thing keeping him from making a break for it.

“Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast.” The man had a smooth, velvety voice that Virgil instantly hated. “You’re not gonna get out that way this time. I learned my lesson already. Partner, you’re up.” The words had just left the man’s mouth when Virgil felt someone’s hands on his shoulders pulling him back from the window. They were smaller than those of the man Virgil had ran into at the store seemingly lifetimes ago, but the amount of fear that these hands instilled in Virgil was incomparable. Virgil jerked back, pulling out of their hold and spun around, backing up until the backs of his legs hit the rusted bed frame. When he looked at his attacker, he instantly recognized the young man from a thousand different news stories, interviews, magazine covers, and even a few commercials. His name was known nation wide and he was one of the most famous superheroes to ever exist. This hero was called Morality.

Virgil couldn't help but gape at the man. Morality was known for saving kitties from trees and helping firefighters save people from burning buildings. He was _not_ a killer. And he certainly didn't look like one either. 

Morality wore a skin-tight white suit that displayed a large sky blue ‘M' on the front. His hands were gloved just like his partner's but instead of gold, they were light blue which faded back into white at his wrists. He too had a symbol: a heart with glasses which was stitched in gray on the top of each wrist. But his gray cape on the other hand was significantly shorter than his partner’s, falling just above his knees. Slowly, Virgil raised his eyes from gazing at the cape’s arctic blue inner lining in favor of finally meeting the stranger’s eyes. Dark brown eyes met startlingly innocent teal ones and Virgil quickly moved his gaze to study the white mask covering a large part of the stranger’s face. The mask itself was exquisite; there were silver designs resembling flowers surrounding the intruder’s eyes and continuing onto the upper left side which curved up to form a cat ear on top of his head.

“If the two of you are done gawking at each other, I’d love to get this mission over with in this century.” The formerly smooth voice cut through the room like a knife and both men turned to look in the direction of the one who had spoken. It only lasted for a moment though before the man in white looked back at Virgil and took a few steps forward.

“I'm really sorry about this kiddo, but we have to do our orders.” The strangest part was that as the man kept advancing he truly did sound sincere. Virgil couldn’t meet his soon-to-be-killer’s eyes again, instead opting to stare at his white and gray backed boots. He vaguely remembered hearing somewhere that the shoes even had rocket in the heel, allowing the hero to fly. Those would really have been useful to him right then if he was able to get out of the room. But then again, Virgil had already been on the run for so long he wasn’t even entirely sure why he kept trying to outrun the inevitable. Though he knew that he could just touch the wall to his left and he would have a way out, Virgil doubted if it was worth it. The past two years hadn’t been kind to him and if the worst happened today, Virgil hoped that they would at least have the mercy to make it quick. Virgil braced himself, ready for the strike that would finish a job so many others had failed at before. Morality reached out as though ready to strangle him but hesitated for reasons unknown to the emo.

“Dee, I can’t do this,” Mortality said quietly. The man who Morality was addressing looked mildly disappointed in his colleague.

“If I reminded you that he is responsible for two civilian deaths, would that help?” The man sounded sarcastic, causing Virgil to flinch at his statement but his almost-killer simply nodded.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” He spoke quickly as he reached for Virgil again. Virgil closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.

“Wait.”

Virgil’s eyes flew open, shocked by the sudden noise and it appeared Morality was just as confused by it as he pulled his hands back after only having lightly brushed the skin on his victim’s neck with a gloved finger. Morality took a small step back from Virgil, looking at his partner questioningly.

“What if the boy proves useful to us? What if something happens and we end up needing someone of his specific skill set?” Despite the man’s calm and collected exterior, he sounded genuinely concerned by this. He moved for the first time since he had shown up in Virgil’s motel room, taking a few steps towards the pair in contrasting colors. “Morality don’t harm him,” he commanded in an authoritative tone.

“But our orders-” Morality started hesitantly before he was cut off by the smooth-talking man.

“I said don’t harm him. Don’t question me, M. And move back, give the boy some air.” Morality, appearing very grateful for these new orders, obeyed, while Virgil just stared at the man who had both endangered and saved his life in the span of five minutes. After about a minute of tense silence, the stranger finally spoke again. “I have a proposition for you. Let’s call it a job offer since really that’s more of what this is.” He paused for dramatic effect. “You obviously seemed like you knew Morality here, so how would you like a job of your own as one of Earth’s mighty defenders? Obviously you wouldn’t be able to be as well-known as him and definitely not as famous as Creativity but perhaps you could be like me, staying under the radar and laying low. Working behind the scenes to change certain things and do certain tasks. So what do you say?” Virgil stared at him, completely dumbfounded. The young man was sleep deprived, hungry, and couldn’t remember the last time something had ever gone in his favor so he was quite certain this all must be a hysteria-induced delusion.

“No.” The quiet yet powerful word echoed around the room, creating tension once more as he turned down the larger man’s offer.

 _“No?”_ was the only question the latter posed, narrowed eyes silently conveying his demand for an explanation.

“No,” Virgil replied simply. He surprised himself when his voice didn’t shake as much as it normally did when he was put on the spot. “You wanted to kill me until you somehow miraculously changed your mind and decided I wasn’t worth it so now you want to give me a job as some kind of _superhero?_ I’m not buying it. This is some kind of twisted trick, a lie, a scam. Listen, if you want to kill me then get it over with. If not, then get out cause I’d actually kind of like to take a nap in peace right now.” Virgil crossed his arms and glared fiercely at both of the invaders. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was so inclined to snap at them or why he felt no fear for his own well-being while doing it, but he was certainly sure of how annoyed he felt in that moment. He was sick of his same old routine of constantly having to look over his shoulder, and if these costumed people wanted to put an end to it then he was fine with that. If not, he was already growing tired of them and the fact that all of this was turning out to just be a waste of his time.

“We’re not going to kill you - I think.” Morality had a much softer voice and it was clear who the leader of the mission was as he glanced at the man he called ‘Dee’ for guidance. 

“Exactly,” Dee confirmed. “We’ll give you a job, shelter, protection, and benefits just like the rest of us have. You might even get a good amount of money out of this so I’d recommend reconsidering.” Dee looked at Virgil, imploring him to agree. “Oh, and we won’t try to kill you again,” he added, more as an afterthought.

“Why should I trust you? You broke into my room, for starters,” Virgil fired back, still glaring.

“Well technically we didn’t break anything. The lady at the desk gave us the key,” Morality offered as reassurance.

“And you shouldn’t trust us which is exactly why you should say yes to this. You won’t be forced to stay against your will and you’ll be safe from a mercenary who I know for a fact has been watching you all day trying to beat us in killing you first,” Dee added. Virgil just sighed. He absently wondered if the mercenary the man had referenced was the attractive man who had gotten hit by a car while he was at Wal-Mart. Or maybe it was the teacher from earlier that day who had been watching him, but Virgil supposed it didn’t really matter who they were in the end. He knew he had nothing else going for him and that when one had no better options they should usually go with the least bad one. He also knew it wasn’t every day that opportunity just happened to break into his room and try to murder him, so he might as well make the most of it and even if things _did_ go downhill, he could always get himself out of there one way or another.

“Fine. I’ll go with you. I have nothing else to do with my Wednesday night, so sure. Just go ahead and lead me to your lair.” Virgil looked flat out bored with all the negotiating at this point yet the moment he agreed, a satisfied smirk spread across Dee’s face.

“Perfect. It’s all settled then. Just get your dollar store gloves and we’ll get going.” Virgil bitterly scooped up his formerly forgotten gloves from the bed behind him.

“Don’t insult my outfit, Mr. Silk Hands. Or should I call you Mr. Ridiculously Extra?” Virgil snarked, looking way too proud of himself when the snake faced man appeared offended by his comments.

“Actually, you can call me Deceit,” the man replied icily.

“Oh great, like that’s not ominous at all,” Virgil muttered sarcastically under his breath. Morality apparently had overheard him and let out a small laugh. Virgil almost smiled at the sound and though they had just met, he couldn’t help feeling at least slightly good about the fact that he had just made a superhero idol of his laugh. The feeling only increased when he caught sight of the annoyed expression on Deceit’s face.

“Okay, so off to the Headquarters we go!” Morality declared cheerfully before leading the way out the door. Virgil briefly wondered what he had gotten himself into, but rather than choosing to dwell on it for too long he simply sighed, resigning himself to all the possibilities as he followed the caped hero out the door towards whatever his life was about to become.


	2. Chapter 2

Buying discount Halloween candy at five A.M. was always a good idea, especially when you hadn’t slept at all in the past twenty-four hours. The surprise on the cashier’s face was evident, but Remus disregarded it as he dumped the armful of candy he had been holding onto the checkout counter with a mischievous grin. That grin only grew as he watched the cashier take in his appearance, from the worn black pirate hat on his head to the machine gun strapped to his back.

“So, how much will it be?” Remus asked, moving the dark gray mask covering his eyes up to just beneath the brim of the large feathered hat. The teen behind the cash register just stared at him for a moment, still taken aback by all the weapons Remus had on him. Remus assumed the boy could only hope they were fake. It was only when Remus cocked his head slightly to the right and his expression turned impatient that the teenager quickly started scanning and bagging the candy in front of him.

“Since most of it is 50% off it’ll be, um - ” The boy paused to read the number on the screen in front of him - “$167.93.” Remus didn’t look fazed by the high cost as he pulled five fifty dollar bills out one of the four pouches on his belt and dropped them on the counter without even checking to make sure it was the right amount. He picked up the bags and turned on his heel to leave as the cashier scrambled to get the correct amount of change from the drawer. “Wait, sir - ” the teen started, attempting to call out to the customer before he made it out of the store.

“Keep the change!” Remus interrupted, shifting the six bags full of candy he had bought to one arm so he could wave goodbye to the perplexed boy behind him before pushing out of the convenience store’s glass doors. Remus adjusted the bags so he was once again carrying three bags on each arm as he marched out into the crisp autumn night. He loved the feeling of the cool breeze on his face. Remus decided that since it was never too early to start the day, he’d go to the park for a while to relax and enjoy his first meal of the day.

As Remus walked the short way to the park, he contemplated what he was going to tell the people who had hired him for his current mission. He had known the mission was cursed from the start, of course. No one ever paid that much money for his services unless they seriously meant business. Then again, it was hard _not_ to mean business when you ordered a hitman to take out your enemies. Although he knew that logically he should be suspicious of the rich strangers, he never had lived a life led by logic, had he? And furthermore, he always enjoyed a good challenge; it was what kept his job interesting, after all.

Remus plopped down on a lone bench under an old willow tree once he reached the park. He didn’t particularly care that a middle aged man who appeared to be homeless had already been sitting there. Remus had no qualms about setting down the bags in the space on the opposite side of the man. He lowered the black cloth covering his mouth before talking.

“You changed, little bro,” Remus addressed the man in the thin, torn coat next to him while he started looking through one of the plastic bags holding the different containers of candy. The man glanced at him in confusion before Remus took out a bag of 3 Musketeers and tossed it into the tired man’s lap. “Here, eat up. I got your favorite.” The man frowned as he opened the large bag and took out one of the individually wrapped chocolates before speaking in a rough voice.

“I don’t know you.”

Remus cackled in response. “Oh c’mon, admit it. I know it’s you. I _always_ know it’s you. I mean,” Remus paused mid-sentence to laugh again, “I may be getting a little crazy around the edges but ever since we were kids you couldn’t fool me.” Remus grinned at the ground for a minute before getting his candy of choice from the bag. The other man just unhappily unwrapped his candy before eating it. He didn’t respond until after Remus had eaten a few sour gummy worms, but this time his voice was much livelier and more arrogant than before.

“You do know that technically even though you’re twelve minutes older than me, we’re still twins, right? So it’s not fair for you to call me your little brother,” the man said, through a mouth full of chocolate. Remus turned to face his brother and smirked when he saw the young man was dressed in his usual outfit of a white suit that strongly resembled a prince, save for the bright red cape that had a large gold ‘C’ on the back.

“Twelve minutes still counts as older, Ro.”

“What are you doing here? What time is it even? And more importantly, how much money did you spend on just candy?”

“Hey quit scolding me! You’re gonna sound like your nerd friend soon. He always has something to say about me, too. I only spend a hundred something dollars. And it’s sometime after four, I think,” Remus said, as he gave up on the gummy worms, choosing to start attacking the candy corn instead.

“A hundred dollars only on candy?!”

“It was on sale, Ro, what else was I supposed to do? God, when did you get so booooring?” Remus rolled his eyes and ended up deciding to wrap a gummy worm around a candy corn before eating it so he would have an excuse not to pay attention to Roman’s noise of offense. “Oh yeah, it was when you decided to get all high and mighty. All _princely._ ” Remus scoffed and ate his combination of candy.

“I can’t believe you’re still bitter, Remus. It’s been literal years!” Roman crossed his arms, looking annoyed. “And you still haven’t answered my first question, though I bet I already know the answer.”

“You’ve gotta remind me what that question was cause you know how bad I am at remembering stuff.” Remus was still smirking to himself as he treated himself to more of the delectable treats before him while Roman glared in his direction.

“You’re going after Virgil Messana, aren’t you?” Roman’s tone was accusatory but Remus didn’t bother looking up from the mixed Hershey's bag he was rifling through.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Remus.” Roman had stopped glaring for the moment and instead had taken to getting out another piece of candy. He missed the frown on Remus’s face as Remus finally looked up from his own bag.

“What gave me away? I was so careful that he wouldn’t see me.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Roman started sarcastically, “Maybe the fact that you _hit me with a car_ while I was going after him!” Roman turned to glare fiercely at his brother.

“Wait, that was today?” Remus responded lightly. “Oops. My bad, Ro. But I guess you’re right. I _am_ after him. I was hired by some shady fellas to get rid of him. I still don’t get why though. He’s just some skinny kid our age.” The container of Lemonheads on his lap was forgotten momentarily as Remus fidgeted with the edges of his fingerless black leather gloves.

“It’s weird to think that we have the same target again. And not a good kind of weird.” Roman ate another piece of chocolate before continuing, “But the good part about doing this my way is that I got to read Messana’s case file.” Remus looked intrigued before Roman had even finished speaking.

“What does it say? Who is this Mr. Nobody from Nowhere that everyone wants dead?” Remus looked borderline desperate, as though his life hinged on getting the answers to his burning questions. Roman, on the other hand, looked almost smug to have the upper hand over his twin.

“It’s getting late. I should really get going, Remus. The others will be worried if I don’t get back soon.” Roman flashed Remus his signature grin before grabbing a handful of chocolate and slipping it in a hidden pocket in his suit. He moved the bag from his lap to the bench beside him before standing up and dusting off his knee length cape. Remus grabbed Roman’s hand, looking at him like a child trying to convince his parents to buy him ice cream. Roman, however, simply pulled out of his grasp. “I really do need to go. I’d hate for Logan to wake up and see that Pat and Dee and I are all still gone. I’ll see you around. And you know I’d wish you good luck if we weren’t after the same target.” Roman hesitated for a moment before adding in a much softer tone than with which he usually spoke, “Take care of yourself, brother.” It was clear Remus hadn’t been paying attention or cared enough to acknowledge it though, so Roman turned around with a sigh, his sad expression only lasting for a second before it morphed into what felt like someone else’s face entirely.

“Ro, wait!” Remus called after Roman, after the former had already walked a bit away. Roman instantly froze in place, waiting with bated breath to hear what Remus had to say. “At least tell me why Messana is so important!” Remus shouted, causing Roman to release his breath. Roman should’ve known to expect another question about their target. After all, he had taught himself by now not to expect anything even vaguely reminiscent of fraternal concern nor caring remarks from his brother.

“They said that if he lived, this guy Virgil would change everything,” was Roman’s only response. Remus stayed silent, for once at a loss for what to say. The beaten down, middle aged man in the weathered brown coat walked out of the park without another word, disappearing in the light of the sunrise.


	3. Chapter 3

The door clicked shut quietly after Roman entered, but it failed to go unnoticed by the man sitting at the kitchen table. The man turned around in his seat, fixing his cool gaze on the shapeshifter.

“You’re late.” The man’s midnight blue eyes narrowed behind his thickly framed glasses. Roman looked almost sheepish as he walked into the kitchen.

“Things didn’t exactly go to plan today. I’m guessing Pat and Dee are still out taking care of everything, right?” Roman opened the fridge, looking for some of his favorite jam to devour as an early breakfast. Logan stood up and crossed the length of the pristine kitchen to refill the mug Roman hadn’t previously realized he had been holding.

“Actually, they returned hours ago. However, judging by what happened upon their arrival, it would appear this mission will prove to be infinitely more difficult than we had originally foreseen.” Logan paused when he noticed Roman digging through a drawer in the fridge. “We ran out of Crofters, if that’s what you’re in search of.”

“What?! I thought we still had half a jar left!”

“Unfortunately for you, it was eaten while you were out gallivanting around an unfamiliar city.” Logan leaned back against the counter and took a sip of his coffee, watching as Roman closed the drawer while shooting Logan a betrayed look. “Regardless, you need to sleep, Roman. I know you stayed out until late the past few nights as well.”

“I’m fine,” Roman answered dismissively. He decided to make himself a mug of peppermint tea as a substitute for his lack of jam. “Just tell me what happened with Messana. Did something happen with the cleanup? Because if they want, I can help with that,” Roman volunteered while waiting for the microwave to beep so as to signify that the water in the mug inside it was hot enough for tea. Despite his offer to help appearing casual, his voice became strained at the thought of Messana having died, and he kept his eyes trained on the appliance in front of him in a successful attempt to hide his pained expression from Logan.

“You won’t believe me if I tell you. I still am not certain that Deceit and Morality were in their right minds when they came to the decision they did.” Logan took another sip of his coffee thoughtfully when, as if on cue, Patton walked into the kitchen, followed closely by Deceit.

“Good morning!” Patton said, sounding chipper as per usual. “Roman! It’s great you’re back safe, kiddo. I was worried you were gonna be out _roamin’_ all night!” Logan cringed at the bad joke as Deceit groaned, but Roman just laughed.

“Hi Pat. It’s good to see you too.” He got out his mug of water and put the tea bag in it to buy himself a few precious seconds before turning to greet Patton with a bright smile. One that, despite his best efforts, fell just short of reaching his eyes. “So, how was Dee and your day on the mission?”

“It was pretty good. Better than I thought it would be, actually,” Patton replied as he got a carton of eggs out of the fridge so he could start making breakfast. Roman chuckled at Patton’s response.

“Spending a day with Deceit was _that bad,_ huh?” Roman joked.

“No, I didn’t mean that,” Patton hastened to clarify. “It’s just that yesterday didn’t have any killing in it. And any day that there is one less death in the world is a good day for me.” Roman only nodded understandingly in response. “Logan, do you want any eggs?” Patton asked in a feeble attempt to change the subject.

“No thank you, Patton.” Logan took a sip of his coffee, completely oblivious to how his coworker’s hopeful gaze lingered on him whenever he looked away.

“I’ll help you cook,” Deceit offered. He, unlike the logical one of the group, had always noticed the longing looks Patton cast in Logan’s direction, but he knew it wasn’t his place to intervene. He knew that in time everything would work itself out.

“Thanks.”

“And Logan, I’m making you some eggs whether you like it or not. You can’t survive off of coffee alone,” Deceit insisted. Logan tried to look annoyed, but Deceit saw right through him like usual.

“Really Deceit, that’s not necessary -” Logan started but cut himself off when he saw the other man’s determined expression. Logan finally conceded. “Thank you for cooking for me.” Both Deceit and Patton caught the hint of a smile and ever so slight blush on Logan’s face. Patton quickly turned away, attempting to busy himself with the food in front of him, taking extra care to keep his expression as neutral as possible. Deceit sighed heavily, exhausted with how much was always left unspoken whenever the group was assigned on missions together. Despite what Logan seemed to think, Deceit wasn’t unaware of how Logan’s eyes always followed him whenever the man thought Deceit wasn’t paying attention. In fact, Deceit was rarely ever caught unaware about anything as he always made it his business to be the most informed person in the room at all times.

A loud, overly-dramatic groan in annoyance broke the silence that had fallen over the kitchen as Roman pulled himself up so he was sitting on the counter.

“You people have no sense of priorities!” Roman exclaimed, only pausing for a brief moment when he saw the confused looks he received from his teammates before continuing. “What happened with the target?” He was tired of being kept out of the loop for so long. He had finally finished making his tea, so he dropped in three sugar cubes before stirring it and took a large sip, waiting expectantly for one of the other three to answer him.

“If you’re talking about me, I haven’t been murdered yet, just so you know,” a sharp, unfamiliar voice answered for the others. Roman involuntarily spat out his tea in the direction of the new voice, drenching the bitter emo in it.

“Creativity!” Logan instantly scolded. Virgil sent a death glare in Roman’s direction as Deceit just tried to smother a laugh.

“Why is the target alive? And why is he in our kitchen?!” Roman demanded, the shock still evident on his face.

“So sorry to disappoint you,” Virgil remarked sarcastically. Roman regarded him with a cold look before turning his gaze to the others.

“Will someone explain what’s going on here?”

“It wasn’t mutually beneficial for us to eliminate Messana so instead of fulfilling our orders, I decided to spare him and take him in as a new recruit,” Deceit stated calmly.

“What? But that’s not your job. And you know we can’t just ignore our orders.”

“It’s not your place to question my decisions, Creativity.”

“Well you know better than to not listen to our Superiors! Now all our necks are gonna be on the line.” Roman crossed his arms resentfully. Virgil ignored their conversation as Logan handed him a dish towel to dry off the tea on him.

“Breakfast is done!” Patton interrupted, trying to stop their conversation from going any further. Luckily, his attempt worked. Deceit and Roman reluctantly kept their opinions to themselves, resorting to glare in each other’s direction instead. Patton served five plates with eggs and toast before handing each man their helping. “There’s water, milk, and OJ in the fridge. Feel free to help yourselves.” Patton opened a cabinet with glasses and served himself orange juice after getting it out of the fridge. He surveyed the others once before going to eat at the dining room table. Deceit and Logan each served themselves water before Deceit went to his room, still irritated with Roman. Logan hesitated for a moment, unsure of where to go, before deciding to join Deceit. Patton ducked his head ever-so-slightly to avoid meeting Logan’s eyes as the man passed by his seat. Virgil couldn’t help but notice so he opted to join Patton, leaving Roman alone in the kitchen once more.

“Thanks for making me food.” Virgil practically inhaled the food before him, along with the orange juice he had served himself. Morality smiled at his companion.

“I’m happy you like it, kiddo. But take it easy, your breakfast isn’t gonna sprout legs and run off your plate,” Morality joked good-naturedly. Virgil looked slightly embarrassed when he seemed to realize just how quickly he had gulped down the food.

“Right, yeah. Sorry. I’m just still pretty hungry.”

“I can tell. Just make sure you don’t get a stomach ache.” The pair ate their food in silence after that, until Morality finally decided to break it once they had both finished. “Virgil, I hope you know that when we first met, I really didn’t want to hurt you. And I feel really bad. I’m really sorry for almost…” Morality trailed off before quietly adding, “ _...y’know._ ” Virgil stayed quiet for a moment, unsure of what to say to Morality’s apology.

“But you still almost did,” Virgil finally said slowly.

“I know but I really didn’t want to,” Morality explained. “And please try not to hold it against Dee because I know he didn’t wanna hurt you either.”

“If you didn’t want to do it, then why did you almost go through with it? Why is following your ‘orders’ so important to all of you?”

“Because - “ Morality started before quickly cutting himself off. He seemed to be mentally scolding himself. Meanwhile, Virgil’s interest had been instantly piqued by what Morality hadn’t said.

“Because?”

“Nevermind,” Morality responded swiftly. He tried to give Virgil a reassuring smile though the other man could see through it. “Anyways,” he started again, attempting to change the topic, “You don’t have to call me Morality all the time. My name is Patton.” Patton smiled at Virgil again but this time it seemed genuine.

“Okay, Patton,” Virgil answered, trying it out. “Well, you already know my name, so..” Patton only nodded in response. He stood up and took their empty plates and glasses to the kitchen. Though the hero wasn’t in his usual costume like Deceit had been earlier that morning, Virgil noticed that Morality still wore his suit’s pale blue gloves. Though curious, Virgil decided against asking Patton about it. Virgil felt that he was already intruding enough as it was just by being there, so he wasn’t going to pry.

“You can go to the living room if you want,” Patton called back from the kitchen, where it sounded as though he was washing the dishes. Virgil took Patton up on his invitation, standing and walking through the doorway into what he assumed was the living room. He was relieved to see he was right.

Virgil walked into the room towards the couch in front of the TV, which was currently on a news channel. He had been planning on sitting on it to watch whatever the breaking news was, so to say he was surprised when he saw Creativity sprawled across it was an understatement. Though they had met in the kitchen less than twenty minutes earlier, he had been too tired to put together all the pieces of how he knew the man before him. Virgil felt like an idiot when he realized that this was the same man he had, quite literally, ran into yesterday at Wal-Mart. Even though at the time of their first meeting Creativity hadn’t had his cape nor his scarlet and gold Colombina mask, Virgil still mentally chastised himself for not having realized why the man seemed so familiar.

But yet, even after he placed Creativity as the world-renowned hero, there was still something about him that felt so familiar, so _known_ to Virgil. But he knew that was impossible. After all, he reminded himself, he had never met an actual superhero before yesterday. Virgil took a step back from the couch, but his attempt to escape undetected was in vain as the strong man before him angled his head to study Virgil.

“How come whenever we meet you’re always leaving?” Creativity asked, a playful gleam in his lustrous gold eyes. “I get it, the mask can be a bit intimidating,” he added as he took off the intricate mask and set it down on his broad chest, at the same time almost imperceptibly putting on a mask of another kind. With the physical mask having been removed, his expression and tone merged to complete the reckless and cocky aura he was reportedly known for having. Virgil didn’t move, staying still as he stared at where said mask had been placed for just a bit longer than was socially acceptable. “I mean it, you might as well sit down and stay a while instead of just standing there reenacting what it must have been like to be a victim of Medusa.”

At last, Virgil caved, deciding that he might as well stay there and wait for Patton to come, regardless of how annoying Creativity was. And he especially wasn’t going to be scared off just because he was alone in a room with a stranger who was also annoyingly _handsome._

Virgil started towards the couch again, trying to look more confident than he felt. Since there was no space on the couch thanks to the other man having his feet up on one arm of it and his head laying on the other, Virgil went to sit in a wooden chair near the edge of the room. In turn, the superhero in question quickly sat up, ignoring his mask as it fell onto his lap, instead motioning for Virgil to come sit by him in the now vacated space on the couch.

“You’ll be much more comfortable here.”

Virgil came closer yet again, this time sitting as far from the stranger as possible. The other man chuckled quietly to himself at Virgil’s actions.

“I swear I won’t bite.” Creativity regarded him warmly with a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

“Didn’t your eyes used to be purple?” Virgil replied as he looked back up from the man’s lips to his stunning eyes. Creativity frowned for a moment.

“Do you like the violet better?” His gold eyes instantly melted into the royal purple color Virgil recognized.

“You can just do that like that?” Virgil asked, clearly taken aback. “Just think about wanting them purple and - _boom_ \- they’re purple? It’s that easy?”

“Of course it is.” Creativity appeared slightly puzzled by Virgil’s surprise but he disregarded his confusion, choosing instead to talk about what he considered to be more pressing matters. “Now, I believe we got off on the wrong foot, Surly Temple.” Creativity flashed Virgil one of his most dazzling grins before continuing, “So how about starting over?” Creativity’s proposition was met with a frown from his companion.

“Do you always just go around giving people nicknames?” Virgil looked unamused.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“And by saying we ‘got off on the wrong foot’, you’re talking about how the first time we met you ran into me and then chased me across a parking lot and how you spat tea on me earlier, right?”

“Technically, you were the one who ran into _me_ and the only reason I chased you is because you ran when I called you. And as for the tea, it’s not my fault you just _happened_ to be standing where I was facing. I think that one was really your own doing,” Creativity argued good-naturedly to an unimpressed Virgil.

“Whatever.” Virgil feigned reluctance for a moment. “I guess we can start over.”

“Fantastic.” Creativity gave Virgil another perfect grin.

“Are you usually this energetic?”

“Yep!”

“I guess I’ll get used to it,” Virgil said, sounding resigned though it was obvious he was just pretending.

“Are you usually this gloomy?”

“Yes.”

Creativity seemed to think this over for a moment before giving an overly dramatic sigh. “I _guess_ I’ll get used to it,” he replied, mimicking Virgil’s former expression before beaming once more. “I’ll have to if you’re gonna stick with us for a while.” Virgil rolled his eyes and glanced in the direction of the TV to try and suppress a smile. “You are going to stay here for a while, right?” Creativity questioned, and Virgil could've sworn his tone almost sounded hopeful.

“I make no promises, but yeah, probably.”

“That’s music to my ears, Doctor Gloom.” Creativity looked proud of himself when he saw Virgil roll his eyes yet again. “Now, to the introductions. I’m Roman, though I’m sure you already know me as Creativity from the media and everything.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about you before,” Virgil confirmed. Although he knew Roman already knew his name, he chose to say it anyway, just to make this feel as normal as possible. Well, as normal as meeting a real-life superhero and learning his secret identity could be. “I’m - ”

“Virgil,” Roman cut him off. Roman spoke with an excess of certainty and intimacy, as though they were old friends who had known each other for years. There appeared to be more than just confidence behind the name which seemed so natural to be said in his melodic voice. It was as if he had said the word a thousand times in a thousand different ways yet Roman knew there was never a day that would come when he would grow tired of speaking it. In fact, it sounded almost vulnerable, and though it was only the other’s name, it felt as if it was the answer to both a hundred questions and none. Roman got lost in Virgil’s dark brown eyes as his own took on a tinge of red that somehow complemented the violet perfectly. They stayed like that for close to a minute, their eyes locked on each other, neither wanting to look away first. But after that moment passed, they both quickly turned to awkwardly stare at opposite walls.

“I - um - they told me your name. My Superiors, I mean,” Roman said finally. Virgil uttered a simple ‘oh’ in response. The silence stretched on after that, Roman and Virgil both turning to focus on the TV as a distraction from what had just happened between them which neither of them dared to offer an explanation for.

“Turn it up, please. I would like to hear that report.” A clear voice rang through the room, cutting the tension the man speaking hadn’t known was there. Neither Roman nor Virgil had heard Logan enter. Both had been too absorbed in their own thoughts. Roman finally focused on what the reporter was saying as he grabbed the remote from a small coffee table near him.

“....there seems to be no telling when the authorities will be able to get this fire caused by the gas explosion under control. Until now, we can only hope that help will arrive for those in danger before it’s too late. Back to you, Jeff.”

Virgil’s eyes widened as he took in the raging fire behind the woman speaking before the image on screen changed to show the other reporter back in the studio. Virgil turned to the other two with a look of horror.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. Logan simply pulled the wooden chair Virgil had been planning on sitting in earlier closer to the TV so he could continue watching without responding. Roman shot Virgil a questioning glance.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what are you still doing here? Why aren’t you leaving already to go help those people?!” Virgil suddenly seemed upset at both of their lack of urgency.

“I heard shouting; is everything okay?” Patton asked in concern as he came into the living room at what felt to Virgil like long last.

“There was a gas explosion not that far from here and there are people in danger,” Virgil answered anxiously.

“Oh. I hope those people are okay. And that the firefighters get there soon.” Patton moved another wooden chair so he could sit by Logan.

“They just announced that the fire department arrived along with an ambulance,” Logan informed him.

“That’s good. The firefighters should be able to put out the fire soon then.” Though Patton meant well, Virgil tensed at his words, his hands helpless fists in his lap. The sharp pain of his nails digging crescent moon shapes into his palms was ignored as his face flushed, making his anger evident to the others.

“This is stupid. I can’t believe it. Any one of you could easily go there right now and save those people, but instead you’re all just relaxing and watching it happen. You should be saving those people's lives! You aren't heroes if you only save people sometimes and then the rest of the time decide to take a day off just because you feel like it. It doesn’t work that way. It _can’t_ work that way! That’s just not right,” Virgil spat fiercely, glaring at each of them in turn.

Patton looked down, trying in vain to hide his shame by staring at the floor. Logan, on the other hand, clearly had words as sharp as knives seconds from spilling from his lips, but he instead swallowed hard and elected to say nothing, in favor of looking back at the reporters on screen in the hope that they would be able to avoid an argument. Roman was the only one of the other men in the room to return Virgil’s glare as he spoke indignantly.

“You make it sound so easy but it isn’t. You have no idea why we do or don’t get involved in stuff like this.”

“Well I know that from an outsider’s perspective, you look pretty heartless by letting these people get hurt!”

“You can’t just come into where we stay and judge and insult us without knowing the whole story!” Roman shouted with a wide gesture to the room at large, as if to prove his point.

“Then tell me what can be more important than doing what is basically the job description of a superhero.” Virgil crossed his arms expectantly, his eyes still flaring with anger.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you. You’re just a former target that we took in for some stupid reason.”

“If innocent people get hurt today, that’s on you for not doing anything when you could,” Virgil snapped coldly.

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you of all people considering you _murdered two civilians in cold blood,_ ” Roman fired back, internally regretting the low blow the second the words left his lips. Virgil’s gaze hardened savagely.

“Don’t you dare go there,” he warned. “You don’t know everything that happened that day.”

“See? There you go! You can’t call me a bad person when you don’t even know anything about a hero’s life or saving people!” Roman pushed his guilt to the back of his mind as he argued back, his grand gestures now bordering on frantic as he furiously tried to make Virgil understand.

“Stop it.” Logan’s measured voice interrupted Virgil just as he opened his mouth to retaliate.

“He was the one who started it! You know why he shouldn’t be saying stuff like that since you know how things are for us!”

“Frankly, I couldn’t care less who started what, Roman. It just needs to stop.”

“But - “

“ _Now._ ” Logan cut Roman off as he fixed his piercing gaze on his coworker. Roman glowered at the other man for a moment before crossing his arms and looking away. Logan turned back to the man on the other side of him with concern evident in his expression.

“Are you alright, Patton?” He murmured softly to the kind man who gave a small nod in response. Patton still looked guilty despite Logan’s quiet reassurances that he wasn’t to blame.

Virgil missed this quiet exchange, his gaze still fixed on the wall directly behind Roman. The hero hadn’t known it, but his words had struck a chord with Virgil. Virgil squeezed his eyes shut before slowly opening them again, trying in vain to focus on what he knew was actually before him and not what he saw and heard in the place of reality.

_Ear-splitting screams shattered the peace of the night. The barrage of berating seemed endless. A shattered glass, an **accident** , had been the start of the nightmare that the night had become. A thousand apologies were given, but none was good enough. None would ever be good enough. **He** would never be good enough. Louder and louder, angrier and angrier, the night grew with each passing second. It was all too much. He needed it to stop. He couldn’t bear another minute. Tears streamed down his face but they had no effect on the others in the cramped room. A small, frail body hit the floor with an unnerving thud, bruised, unlike the hand that had struck it. Flesh touched stone, corrupting and corroding the cold surface with every encounter. A boom echoed through the night, the sound stretching to fill every formerly placid space, invading every secluded niche within the area. The body was thrown from the floor, blown clear across the street and landed with a sickening crunch of bones breaking. Night turned into day as bright light filled the atmosphere. Pieces of broken foundation decorated the orange sky for a moment before everything came crashing down on the two charred corpses still lying in the ruins of the childhood home. For one moment after all the chaos, the world was silent once more before sirens began to reverberate through the now empty space._

It was too loud. Everything was too loud. Virgil grabbed the remote in front of him, desperate to turn the background noise off. He was almost successful. _Almost._ Virgil watched in horror as the plastic corroded beneath his fingertips. Roman, noticing this out of the corner of his eye, immediately shrunk back from the now dangerous object. Virgil quickly dropped it onto the floor but it was too late; he had already had too much of an effect on the object. The remote control exploded before their very eyes. Patton recoiled at the cacophonous noise. Logan appeared just as startled for a moment before straightening his glasses in an attempt to regain at least a bit of his composure.

“Looks like you could use some training.”

Virgil jolted in surprise as he heard the unperturbed voice coming from the figure lurking in the doorway. None of them had heard him enter thanks to the small explosion, but Virgil was starting to get unnerved by the way Deceit just _appeared_ in places.

“I'm sorry, I - ” Virgil started, but froze when he saw Deceit hold up a hand to silence him.

“We cannot train him. It is prohibited. We are breaking enough rules as is simply by taking him in.” Logan was the first to address what Deceit had said. Logan spoke in his usual, level tone and though there was truth behind his words, Deceit merely brushed off Logan’s concerns.

“Well we can’t exactly have him keep blowing things up all over the place, now can we?”

“I suppose not,” Logan conceded. “But we must take caution in the manner by which we go about it.”

“Of course we will. And since you’re so good at thinking things through and you’re great at planning, how about we work together on setting up his training? Would you like that?” Deceit knew Logan wasn’t likely to pass up on such an offer, so it was no surprise to him when the other man agreed. 

“Alright. I suppose it is acceptable that some training is conducted, so long as I’m there to keep everything in check. And it would help to learn more about Messana’s power. For research purposes, of course.”

Deceit smirked at the studious man. “Trust me, you won’t regret this.”


	4. Chapter 4

Logan regretted it.

He regretted everything that had led to that unimaginable moment. The shock was slowly subsiding and giving way to a much deeper emotion. Anger flooded through him, mingling with the grief to form a near deadly combination. The pain crept in, not unlike tomorrow creeping in this petty pace from day to day. Logan loathed his ability to effortlessly recall the iconic line from Macbeth’s Act V, Scene 5 soliloquy much like he currently loathed the man responsible for talking passionately about Shakespeare's dramas so frequently that the knowledge in its entirety had long ago become instilled in his head. The same man who was also at fault for the destruction of one of his most prized possessions. The man who was now looking at him with the innocence of a puppy, yet with the notorious mischief of a raccoon lying just underneath the surface. Roman.

It all started the day after Deceit’s suggestion to train Virgil. The team decided it was best not to waste any time and instead to begin the training after a small, slightly rushed breakfast cooked by none other than Logan himself, who'd been taking cooking lessons for the past month and was more than happy to put his new skill to use.

“Okay kiddo, so I talked it over with Logan before you got up and we figured it would be best to start the training on the roof. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure. But I really don't think this'll work. I've been trying for the last five years to control this thing but I've found it's pretty pointless.”

“Oh cheer up and don't be such a Negative Nancy! We'll have your powers shipshape and Bristol fashion in no time.”

“I'll take your word for that,” Virgil mumbled into his pancakes, avoiding Roman's overly optimistic gaze as though worried it was contagious. Logan had observed much about Virgil Messana in the past day alone. As one of the top intelligence workers in the Superiors’ organization and the soon-to-be head chairman of the entire intelligence sector of the association if he played his cards right, Logan had already created a mental list detailing Messana’s habits and ticks, down to the way he tugged his worn hoodie sleeves further over his hands every time he got particularly anxious.

Quite frankly, Virgil Messana fascinated him. He knew every detail about the man’s file, yet the man himself was slowly proving to be quite the enigma. He was rather quiet at times but he always was able to come up with a snarky response if needed which appeared to be having some effect on Roman. They'd begun to have quite the rapport and even Logan, despite all his oblivious glory, was able to sense underlying tension every time Virgil was near Roman.

“Lo, everything a-okay?” A gentle voice interrupted Logan's thoughts and he abruptly realized that for the past minute, his unfocused gaze had been fixated on the chair where Patton had previously been seated.

“Hm? Oh, yes. I'm alright. I merely became momentarily lost in thought, that's all,” Logan was quick to reply as the world shifted back into focus and he became vividly aware of the fact that he and Patton were the only two left at the table.

“Okey dokey. If you're sure you're okay, then we can head out.” Patton's voice was warm and grounding, as Logan had discovered it so often was. It was comforting, and refreshing even, when put into context with the cold reality they all called normalcy.

“We should join the others,” Logan agreed with a nod. He stood and picked up his mug to bring it with him, ignorant, as always, to Patton's gaze lingering on his retreating figure as the young hero began to lead the way up the stairs.

“What a beautiful day to blow stuff up!”

Roman’s enthusiastic remark was met with a disapproving look from Logan.

“What? I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little. It’s too early to look so serious,” the larger man protested. Logan merely crossed his arms and turned away to look at Virgil, electing not to dignify Roman with a response.

“Alright, Virgil. It’s time to begin. Please hold this and stand a small ways back.” Logan handed Virgil a small beanbag and waited for the other man to take a few steps back before picking up a notebook and pen he’d left on a small table he’d set up earlier that morning. Patton had arrived by now and was standing alongside Deceit and Roman, all three a safe distance away from their new recruit. Logan and Deceit had spoken last night and decided on how they were going to conduct the experiments. He nodded at Deceit to ready the stopwatch before speaking again. “On my count, I would like you to attempt to explode the item you’re currently in possession of. Ready?” It was evident to all of them that the young soon-to-be-hero was far from ‘ready’ based on his trembling hands alone, but Virgil gave a small nod, allowing Logan to proceed with his plan. “Three… two… one… now.”

The team watched with bated breath as Virgil closed his eyes. Logan had a tight grip on his pen which was poised over the paper, ready to scribble down notes and observations at a moment's notice. They watched on as…nothing happened.

It was the epitome of underwhelming. Logan made sure to write a note of how Virgil’s entire body, not just his hands, was trembling now as the young man opened his eyes, the disappointment in himself evident.

“Maybe you just need to hold it a little longer?” Patton suggested hesitantly. Virgil set down the beanbag without meeting the other man’s gaze.

“That won’t make any difference. I told you all this was pointless,” Virgil replied darkly, haunted by his many failed attempts from the last five years.

“Aw, kiddo, you can’t give up already! It took me a while with my powers too, but I’m sure you’ll get it sooner or later.”

“I guess…” Virgil picked up the beanbag with a sigh and studied it for a moment before closing his eyes to concentrate again.

“Alright.” Logan readied his pen once more. “Begin your second attempt.”

~~~~~

The sun was beating down, making the day uncomfortably warm. Uncomfortable also happened to be the optimal word to describe the tension the group shared at the moment. It had been hours of trial after trial yet no matter how many times Logan instructed Virgil to attempt to corrode and subsequently explode the item in his hands, failure appeared to be inevitable.

By now, their efforts had become both more tired and desperate. Logan had suggested Virgil try holding different objects since the beanbag remained unaffected by Virgil’s powers. These objects included but were not limited to: Virgil’s old pair of gloves, a sponge, an umbrella, an engraved gold pocket watch (given to Virgil by Roman after the latter stole it from Deceit), a handful of playbills (given to Virgil by Deceit as his revenge on Roman), a Rubix Cube (as Roman’s attempt to pull Logan into Deceit’s and his mini war), and lastly, a package of Oreos. No one was quite sure why Roman chose the last one, yet none had time to question it since Virgil refused to even attempt to corrode and explode it, saying he was insulted by the very notion of being told to destroy his favorite cookie.

However, the process of experimenting with different objects had ended almost an hour ago and their spirits were once again low. Logan’s notebook now contained multiple pages detailing the distinct ways in which Virgil held each object, hands still shaking each time he concentrated regardless of how many times they had already gone through this process.

“I believe that we should all take a respite. It would appear that one is far overdue.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, Lo. A small break sounds like just the ticket.” Patton turned to Virgil. “How about we go get you something to eat for lunch, kiddo?”

Logan closed his notebook as Virgil set down the beanbag in the pile of other unsuccessful, now-neglected objects before following Patton to the kitchen.

“Maybe we should try another remote. That could be his specialty,” Roman joked while walking over to Deceit and Logan.

“Don’t be foolish, Roman. We already know his powers have worked on other materials in the past. There must be some minute element to this that we’re missing.” Logan handed his notebook to Deceit for the other man to look through.

“In all seriousness, what do you two make of Virgil?” Deceit asked without looking up from the page he was reading.

“He’s a good guy deep down. I know it. But our stupid Superiors are keeping stuff from us, I’m sure of that. And it wouldn’t be the first time either. They’re always up to something.”

“Relax, Roman. You know better than to speak ill of our employers. You’re beginning to sound like Deceit with his constant suspicions.”

“I’m only saying that we shouldn’t keep trusting them so much when we never know if the next legislation they pass will stop us from even seeing each other.” Roman crossed his arms. “And you’re only happy with them because you’re their golden boy who’s one successful mission away from becoming their new Head of Intelligence and leaving the rest of us to try and deal with whoever they choose as your replacement.”

“There is no cause for you to be upset over this. My replacement will most likely be Virgil at this rate, which is fortunate for you considering the fact that ever since he was kept alive, you’ve appeared to be happier than you have acted in quite some time. But either way, nothing is for certain yet, especially because they might not even choose for me to retire from being ‘Logic’ and take the mantle and responsibilities of the new position instead.”

“Logan, we all know that you’ll get the promotion. All I ask is that you consider looking closely into the reason the position is vacant in the first place.” Deceit spoke calmly as he looked up from the notes before closing the notebook and handing it back to Logan.

“It’s shady,” Roman added to break the silence that had begun to fill the space. “And you should also keep in mind that not all of us started here by choice, so you never know what you’re gonna have to deal with in a spot that high up.”

Logan had no response as both his and Roman’s thoughts drifted to what Patton had confided in the others precisely two years and 314 days ago. Their momentary distraction allowed Deceit a chance to force the pained expression from his face without either of the other men noticing it was ever even there at all. It seemed that his return to a neutral expression had come just in time too, as at that moment, Patton and Virgil walked back onto the roof, each carrying plates of snacks to share with the others. They set them down on the table and Virgil grabbed a couple chips before retreating to a deserted corner. Roman ate a pretzel before immediately going after him.

“Hey, Messana.”

“Hey, yourself.”

“So, you liking your second day so far?”

“You mean, am I enjoying disappointing you guys and making a complete fool of myself? Meh, it’s just another day for me.” Virgil shrugged as Roman rolled his eyes in response.

“You’re hardly disappointing, my Chemically Imbalanced Romance. You just need to keep practicing and I’m sure you’ll get it.”

“I guess,” Virgil replied doubtfully.

“C’mon, I’ll prove it to you. All you need is to try a little thing called trial-by-fire. Though I guess in your case, it’s trial-by-matchstick since it’s not exactly a life and death thing.” Roman led the way over to the table and Virgil hesitantly followed, curious to see what Roman had in mind. Roman’s back was facing Virgil so the smaller man didn’t notice as Roman grabbed the first object on the table, without stopping to check what it was, and flung it at Virgil while shouting “catch!”

“Roman!”

Virgil fumbled to catch the object but it slipped through his hands and Logan looked on in horror as his prized TARDIS-shaped mug smashed on the concrete.

“ _Roman!!_ ”

It was Logan, not Virgil, who shouted this time. The educated man had a look of murder on his usually inexpressive face as he stormed over to Roman and Virgil.

“What were you thinking?! You can’t simply surprise someone by flinging easily breakable mugs at them! Especially when the mug isn’t even your own,” Logan fumed.

“I’m sorry, Specs. I didn’t realize it was that. But it’s just a mug and I can get you a new one online,” Roman offered apologetically.

“You should have stopped to consider your actions before proceeding with them. And I would not like to receive a new mug from you, I can purchase a new one myself. But it is the principle of the matter! You always do actions such as these, including on our missions when you hurl yourself into combat and potentially dangerous situations with a complete lack of forethought and without having paused to either listen or contribute to the plan. You’re impossible! And another thing -” Logan paused momentarily from his tirade to adjust his glasses and take a breath but Deceit shushed him before the other man had the chance to finish his sentence. Logan, in turn, turned his deadly glare on Deceit, silently imploring him to have a justified explanation for the interruption.

“Everyone be quiet and listen,” was the only response Deceit gave. They all held their breath while listening attentively. Patton was the first of the others to notice the faint pounding coming from downstairs.

“Someone’s here.”

The alarm in his tone was evident and in mere seconds he was racing down the stairs with his coworkers on his heels and Virgil, slightly unsure of what to do, bringing up the rear. Once the group reached the living room, it became evident that the noise was due to someone banging on their front door. Patton, being the nicest of them, walked over to answer it, leaving the rest in suspense. Logan shared an uneasy look with Deceit, both men hoping the person at the door was a civilian who’d gotten lost instead of who both men had a sneaking suspicion the unidentified visitor truly was.

“Of course you can come in, sir.” Patton’s cheerful voice carried into the room and Logan’s heart sunk with the knowledge that his guess at the mystery person’s identity was all but confirmed to be who he worried it was.

“Wait in here for a sec, please,” Patton said, leaving the person by the door before rushing back into the room where the others were.

“A representative is here. He’s come for Virgil,” Patton explained in a hushed tone.

“We can’t let them take him!” Roman whispered in reply.

“We won’t. I’ll talk with them to try and come to a reasonable resolution. Logan, Patton, it would be best if you join me.”

“I’m coming too. If we’re gonna give a case for Messana to stay here then I want to help.”

“No. You’re not diplomatic enough so it’s better if you stay here and keep him out of sight.”

“But that’s not fair. I should be able to help just as much as the rest of you do, Snakey McSnakerson,” Roman argued while crossing his arms defensively.

“You know, Ro, your never-ending nicknames don’t exactly help your case.”

“ _Fine._ ” Roman gave a slightly exasperated sigh before motioning for Virgil to start walking down the hall that led to their bedrooms.

“Wait, Roman,” Logan went after him as the others left to go speak with the representative. “I apologize for allowing my temper to get the best of me earlier. It was childish and unprofessional and I quite hope that you’re willing to forgive me.”

“Don’t worry about it, Calculator Watch. You’re already forgiven. But are you sure you don’t want me to get you a new Doctor Who mug?”

“I am certain of it, Roman. However, thank you anyways for the offer.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“About the conversation I’m about to partake in, I am sorry that you can’t join us but it’s for the best. Deceit has proven in the past that he often has an overarching plan, so it’s better that we trust his decisions to be logical.”

“I guess…”

“You shouldn’t concern yourself about the matter. Currently, your main priority is to assure that Virgil does not dwell too much on the setbacks of today nor that he worries an excessive amount about the meeting at hand. I have a working theory that I’ll explain to you later regarding his powers in relation to his emotions but for now, attempt to keep him calm so that we may ensure no inopportune mishaps occur whilst our visitor is present.”

“Okay, you got it. I know exactly how to deal with our resident emo.” Roman gave the other man a reassuring grin and turned to go the same way as before, hearing Logan muttering a doubtful “I’m sure” under his breath as Roman made his way to Virgil’s temporary room.

Roman walked into the practically bare guest room, unsurprised to see Virgil awkwardly perched on the edge of one of the only pieces of furniture in the small room. Roman sat next to him, midnight blue eyes a striking contrast to the drab gray sheets of the twin-sized bed. In fact, everything about Roman looked out of place compared to his surroundings, from his auburn hair to his bright red and white bomber jacket covering both his fitted black shirt and toned muscles, which Virgil was now realizing he was having a weirdly strong urge to keep admiring. He despised that urge much like he hated how seeing Roman this close and in a casual outfit instead of his uniform. It felt so commonplace when it should be feeling foreign considering this man was still a stranger to him.

“There’s nothing to do in here so do you wanna go to my room instead?” Roman offered, interrupting the other man’s thoughts. Virgil stared at him without responding. “It has a TV,” he added with a disarming grin.

“Alright, I’m sold. Let’s go.”

With that, Roman stood up and led Virgil down the hall to the furthest room from the one they’d just left. Roman flopped back on his bed while Virgil entered. The room was accentuated with as much red and gold as possible, falling just short of appearing cluttered. Roman’s room had an assortment of both poster sized and polaroid photographs showcasing deserted beaches and sunsets peeking through from behind snowy mountain landscapes, which covered the starch white walls. There was a distinct vintage feel to the decor, yet it lacked the element that made it feel lived-in. Instead, it was closer to one of those display rooms one sees in department stores; perfect at a glance, but disguising an empty feeling underneath.

The only indications of life there were a red and black acoustic guitar propped up in the corner furthest from the door and the man currently sitting up in order to start flipping through channels. Roman watched out of the corner of his eye as Virgil took in the new surroundings.

“Do you like the photos?”

“Yeah. Surprisingly, they’re pretty cool.”

“Thanks. I took them myself.” Roman continued looking through channels for a minute longer before giving up.

“Nothing good is on so I’m gonna look for something on Netflix.” Virgil sat down next to him as Roman opened the streaming service only to have it crash moments later, causing Roman to groan in frustration.

“Oh, come on! You’d think being a world-renowned superhero would at least warrant having fast enough internet to let us watch a movie!” Roman tried opening it again in hopes that it would load but his attempt was in vain. “This stupid thing won’t work.” He tossed down the remote and crossed his arms, appearing bothered by the device yet in truth, it was for another reason. “First, I’m not even considered to have another chance to help and defend you and now this thing refuses to work!”

“Well none of you should be talking for me. I don’t need some kind of knight in shining armor. I can take care of myself.” Virgil paused to narrow his eyes suspiciously. “And what do you mean _‘another chance’_?” Virgil’s distrusting gaze landed on Roman who looked like a deer in the headlights for a moment before quickly racking his brain for an answer.

“That’s classified.”

“Seriously?”

“…yeah.”

“Alright then.” Virgil examined Roman for a moment before adding, “If everything’s gonna be classified and we can’t watch anything, then I’m going back to the guest room.”

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But for the record, I know what you’re doing, Count Woe-laf, and it totally didn’t work. I’m just nice and enjoy breaking rules. But anyways, what I was talking about was that I wasn’t exactly on board with the whole ‘Let’s Kill Messana’ party but following orders is part of my job so I couldn’t really protest.” Roman looked down to study his crimson comforter which he decided had just become the most interesting object in the whole universe. He was sure Virgil suspected there was more behind Roman’s original comment that he was holding back but he didn’t press for details. Virgil stayed quiet while watching Roman for a moment before speaking again.

“Can I ask you a question? How did you start working like this? And why do you guys sometimes act like you know each other and other times act like total strangers?”

“That’s more than one question,” Roman joked in an attempt to lighten the mood to which Virgil rolled his eyes. “I started when I was recruited when I was 19. I was working with a partner at the time and doing jobs for hire when some people saw me use my powers, I guess. I got an anonymous message giving me a time, date, and location so I went to see what it was all about. I met a guy there who told me he wanted to recruit me for a program they were setting up for people who were ‘special’.” Roman paused at the memory, guilt plaguing his features for a brief moment before he hastened to finish the story.

“I took him up on the offer, they trained me, and now, here I am,” he said, giving Virgil a forced smile.

“Oh…what about your partner? Are you still close?”

“He was like a brother to me. But no, we don’t talk too much ever since I left three years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil offered after a short, unbearable silence.

“Don’t be.” Roman gave Virgil a smile in reassurance that he hoped appeared more sincere than his last one.

“So...you were recruited like one of the Avengers?”

“Think more like the Justice League, though all those comic book heroes don’t have anything on the real thing. But pretty much how it works is that we’ve all got our own places to protect, like how Batman has Gotham, but we team up for certain high profile missions. This place is where we stay when we're doing those missions so it's pretty much our version of the Watchtower. And, to answer your question from earlier too, we only know bits and pieces about each other and our pasts. Our Superiors give us information on a need-to-know basis, so all we’ve got to go on when it comes to each other is whatever they decide to tell us or we want to share with the rest of the team. For example, none of us knew each other’s secret identities for almost a year. And we still don’t know Deceit’s name. Or pretty much anything about him.” Roman turned so he was directly facing Virgil before speaking again. “Now it’s _my_ turn to ask _you_ a question.”

“Alright fine. Ask away.”

“Is your favorite song ‘The Black Parade?’” His eyes had a mischievous glint that perfectly complemented his teasing grin. Virgil only glared at him in reply. “What? You look emo enough,” Roman added, feigning innocence.

“You know what? I’m not even gonna answer that. I’m pretty sure if I did, it would only encourage you, which is literally the last thing I want.”

“You’re no fun, Marilyn Morose.”

“Wow, another nickname. So original,” Virgil retorted sarcastically. “Besides, you can’t judge me when your favorite song is probably something from a cheesy, overrated musical.”

“Excuse you, my favorite song is not even close to that, actually. It’s ‘La Canción’ by J Balvin and Bad Bunny.”

“I’m sorry- Bad _what?_ ”

“Bad Bunny. You know I gotta support my fellow Puerto Rican.”

“What kind of name is _Bad Bunny?_ ”

“Shhh. Don’t question it.”

“Alright fine Princey, I’ll admit it. I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

“Well, I’ve got a good memory associated with that song,” Roman explained with a shrug. “It’s a pretty good song too.”

“In that case, you’ve gotta play it for me sometime.”

“Okay, I will,” Roman agreed with a smile. Before either could say anything else, they heard shouting coming from the kitchen, interrupting any chance they could have had to continue their conversation.

“We should go see what’s wrong.”

“Wait, but I’m supposed to keep you here and away from the representative.”

“Technically yeah, you are supposed to do that. But don’t you wanna go with me to see what’s happening?” Virgil asked while standing up.

“You know I do. We gotta make sure no one catches us over there. I’m sure we’ll be fine though, so let’s go.” Roman stood and walked into the hallway, being as quiet as possible as he and Virgil made their way to the source of the ruckus.

“-we will not hesitate to remove him from your custody by force if necessary.”

“If you want him you’ll have to go through me!”

“That can be arranged,” the stranger’s voice snapped coldly.

“If you insult Patton one more time, I can personally assure you that you will be leaving this building both without a job and possibly with a stronger understanding of the importance of self-preservation considering that I will make you regret ever setting foot in here,” Logan threatened, immediately jumping to the sweeter man’s defense.

Roman noticed Virgil's visible surprise at hearing Logan speak in such an emotional manner twice in one day, especially considering that this time was much more passionate than the first.

“They have a kind of _thing_ going on between them. It's complicated,” Roman whispered to Virgil to serve as an explanation before staying quiet so they could eavesdrop once more.

“Calm down boys,” Deceit, ever the negotiator, said in a placating tone. “I swear to you that we’ll uphold our end of the bargain as long as you stand by yours.”

“I still say this whole deal is ridiculous.”

“Maybe it is, but keep in mind that you were the one who set the terms for our compromise. Terms that we’re going out of our way to agree to.”

“Fine. I’ll be sending someone in a month to verify that you’ve made the progress you assured me you will. I hope we won’t have the misfortune of seeing each other again.”

“The sentiment is mutual,” Logan fired back.

Roman and Virgil moved from their hiding place in time to see the scathing glare the representative gave the three other men in the room before he turned on his heel and stormed out the front door. They, in turn, rushed into the kitchen the moment they heard Deceit close the door after him.

“What happened? Are they coming back for Virgil?”

“Calm down, Roman,” Deceit said in a soothing tone. “We have until December 2nd to train our new friend. That’s when another representative will come back to check up on us. If we fail, they’ll take him to train him using their own methods.” Seeing the clear worry on Roman’s face, he quickly added, “But that’s a month away. Everything will be fine by then.” Deceit’s reassuring smile was just as false as his reassurances, but Roman didn’t want to question it. The two continued talking about ways to speed up the training, with Virgil giving occasional commentary, while Logan and Patton walked back into the living room.

“Are you alright? In regards to your emotions, I mean.”

“Yeah, I’m okay, Lo.” Patton sighed heavily as he sat on the couch. “You didn’t have to defend me back there.”

“It was only right of me to do so.” Logan sat next to him, stiff posture relaxing slightly, the way it only ever did when he was alone with Patton. “You make a conscientious decision to act as kind as you possibly can to every individual you meet in spite of your upbringing and the events you have lived through which have all figuratively shaped you to become the amiable and considerate person you are now. I possess a profound respect for you for that and you should not have to tolerate sitting by and listening to your good-natured personality be slandered in such an unjust fashion.”

“Thanks, Logan. That’s nice of you to say. I should be asking if _you_ are okay, though. We never got a chance to talk after the whole thing that happened on the roof.”

“Oh, that. I must implore you to consider moving past my immature actions from earlier. I shouldn’t have reacted in such a rash manner to the situation and quite frankly, am ashamed and embarrassed by the part I played in the ordeal.”

“Logan, it’s alright to show your emotions more than just once in a blue moon. It’s not healthy to bottle all these tricky feelings up all the time and only let them out in bursts when you can’t help it. You don’t have to try and deal with it on your own so no one will think any less of you if you need help sometimes.”

“I appreciate your concern, Patton, but please do not take offense to the fact that I am going to continue managing things the way I always have.”

“Okay, if you’re sure. But just remember I’m always here for you.”

“Thank you.”

“I was wondering though, why did you get so upset about the mug? I get that it’s your favorite one, but you can replace it, right?” Despite Patton’s expression remaining as gentle as ever, Logan lowered his head to avoid the other man’s gaze, his own expression quickly becoming clouded with a look resembling shame.

“I am very much aware of how juvenile it is for me to have attachments to inanimate objects, yet, despite my best efforts, it would appear that I unintentionally allowed myself to mentally form an emotional connection to that particular mug.” Logan quickly adjusted his glasses to give himself a moment to collect his thoughts just as Patton’s gloved hand gently cupped to Logan’s face and tilted it up so they could look each other in the eyes. Patton looked silently into Logan’s eyes for a second before speaking quietly, unaware that Logan’s mind had completely blanked of all thought the second Patton had touched him.

“You don’t have to tell me any more if you don’t want to.” He lowered his hand. “I don’t want you to be pressured, Lo.”

“No - I mean, that’s alright. I want to tell you, Patton. If only based on the fact that at the very least I owe an explanation for my unconventional behavior.” He glanced down in an effort to hide any residual hesitance in his emerald green eyes, before meeting Patton’s gaze once more.

“I cared so deeply about it because that mug was the first thing I was ever able to purchase with my own money that was not an absolute necessity. I purchased it when I was only eighteen years old, a few months after I had been forcefully instructed to leave my aunt’s house for being too much of a burden ever since I had no choice but to move in with her. The mug was symbolic of a milestone for me, I suppose. It was physical proof that I truly was free and no longer had to rely on her for anything thanks to my new job working in intelligence for our Superiors, even before I discovered my powers. Furthermore, that mug was the first thing of mine, ever since I moved in with her, that I could own without being worried what repercussions might occur due to it being an object designed to represent one of my favorite television programs.”

“Wow, I had no idea it meant so much to you.”

“I’m sure you think I’m rather foolish now, though.”

“What? No way! Tons of people have stuff they associate with a memory or feeling. That doesn’t mean you should think you’re silly for having those feelings, Lo.”

“Well, thank you for listening. However, I regret taking so much of your time.”

“Don’t worry about that. I like spending time with you.” Patton’s smile was infectious, causing a hint of a smile to grace Logan’s features before he schooled his expression back to the emotionless one he usually had.

“We should go discuss Virgil’s training with the others. Who knows what eccentric ideas they may have come up with while we were gone?”

“Good point.”

The two stood and made their way back into the kitchen, rejoining the rest of the group, anxious for a solution to controlling Virgil’s powers.

~~~~~

In what felt like no time at all, December 2nd arrived and they had yet to find a solution. Virgil had been training for hours every day, but so far the only times he’d successfully managed to blow something up had been unintentional. Now, as they sat around the kitchen table in palpable tension, they restlessly awaited the foreboding knocks that were bound to mark the arrival of the representative.

“Kiddos, I know today’s a big day, but you should eat up as much as you can. We’d hate to host a guest on an empty stomach.” Patton attempted a calming smile, yet it fell short of reaching his eyes.

“I don’t think any of us can eat anything today, padre,” Roman replied, noting how Patton too had been pushing his food around on his plate for the past five minutes.

“Yeah, I know.” He sighed, worry leaking into his expression for a moment before he quickly smiled again to save face. Patton turned to Logan. “Lo, can you come with me to the kitchen to help me get a serving dish I left there?”

“Of course.”

“Great!” Patton said cheerfully and led the other man to the kitchen.

“I wasn’t aware that there was still a dish remaining. I was under the impression we had already brought all of them to the table but it appears I must have been mistaken,” Logan said as they arrived.

“Actually, you’re right. We already took all the food for the others over there. But the thing is, I needed an excuse to get you to come here so we could be alone,” Patton admitted sheepishly as he took off his gloves which had previously had syrup spilled on them. He quickly began to wash his hands as both as excuse to get the remaining syrup off his wrist and to avoid Logan’s perplexed stare,

“Patton, if you needed to talk to me about a private matter, you are aware that you could have simply said that from the start and I would have come, right?” Logan leaned back against the counter as he spoke, a touch of amusement and curiosity in his tone.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just that I know you don’t like showing any feelings in front of the others.” Patton dried his hands and kept his back to Logan as he opened the cabinet in front of himself, making sure Logan couldn’t see what he was now holding with the utmost care. “Plus I didn’t want to spoil the surprise,” he added, barely able to contain his excitement.

“What? Patton I’m afraid that you have - metaphorically - lost me.”

“Well, you told me how much your TARDIS mug meant to you, and I know it’s been a month but I can tell it’s still bothering you a bit and on top of that there’s all the nerves of today, so…” Patton trailed off as he turned around with a small smile, a Baymax mug cradled in his hands. “I made this for you. I remembered when you were telling me all about how much you like the message and symbolism in Big Hero Six, so I really hope you like this.”

“Patton - “ Logan cut himself off before his voice betrayed how overcome with emotion he truly was. “I can’t believe you actually listened and remember what I told you months ago. And,” he paused to quickly adjust his glasses in an attempt to distract himself from his slightly watering eyes, “thank you so much for taking the time to make this. It’s one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me.”

“It was no trouble at all, Lo,” Patton replied, beaming. He turned the round, white mug in his hands so the front decorated with the two black dots and line between them representing Baymax’s eyes along with the small gray circle located close to the mug’s base and hand painted to mirror where Baymax’s ID chips could be inserted was facing away from Logan. Instead, Patton showed the other man where he had painted the feeling chart Baymax used in the movie.

“Now with this you can ‘rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10’ without having to try and find the right words to talk about all those icky emotions. And if you’re ever feeling down and wanna talk about it without interrupting the others, you can just look at me and point to however you’re feeling so we can go get a quiet space to figure everything out. Just know you can always come to me.” Patton smiled, the same way that always made Logan feel a strange warm and tingling sensation in his chest.

“This means a great deal to me.” Logan felt a small smile tugging at his lips and for once, he allowed himself to experience the fleeting blissful feeling. Logan didn’t hesitate to reach out to take his new mug from Patton so that he could admire it further, taking Patton by surprise and rendering him unable to set down the mug fast enough. Logan, still distracted, had yet to realize his mistake. The moment their skin touched, it was too late.

Logan’s body hit the floor with a thud.


	5. Chapter 5

“Logan, don’t!”

The shout ripped from Patton’s throat a second too late yet he barely remembered saying it. He watched in horror as Logan’s limp body fell to the floor at the same moment that Patton’s world came crashing down around him.

“Patton? What happened?!” Roman demanded as he and the other two heroes rushed into the kitchen to the sound of the Baymax mug smashing on the tile next to Logan.

“I….he…” Tears were already flooding down Patton’s cheeks as he sunk to Logan’s side, bare hands getting cut on the shards of what had brought the man in front of him much needed happiness mere seconds before.

“Move. Maybe I can help him,” Deceit said while crouching next to Logan and quickly checking his pulse.

“He- he touched my hand. I should have put my gloves on. What was I thinking?” Patton mumbled numbly. He wrapped his arms around his own trembling frame as he rocked back and forth, tears continuing to blur his vision. The blood smearing on his light blue cardigan was the furthest thing from his mind. Instead, he mentally asked anyone who might be listening to keep Logan alive and not to let the other man pay the price for touching Patton’s own treacherous skin.

“Shhh, don’t worry. Logan will be okay. We’ll find a way to fix this.” Roman placed a reassuring hand on Patton’s shoulder as he spoke what they both knew to be a lie. Still, they sought to find at least some semblance of comfort in it nonetheless.

“I don’t understand, what’s your power? What happened?”

“I killed Logan.”

The answer to Virgil’s second question seemed to create a vacuum in the small room, sucking out all hope and replacing it instead with despair.

“Hold on, he’s not dead yet. It’s faint, but there’s a pulse. Everyone stand back.” Deceit ordered, taking charge while simultaneously trying to ignore the tears forming in his eyes. He made sure to keep his head tilted down far enough so that the others wouldn’t notice said tears and become more worried.

Patton slowly stumbled to his feet and backed away as Roman grabbed Virgil’s hand, pulling him back so they were next to Patton. The three watched in confusion as Deceit closed his eyes and began moving his hands in circular motions over Logan’s chest, trying his best to reverse the damage before it was too late. Patton’s head was spinning as a sickening sense of deja vu overwhelmed him.

 _‘Not again. Please not again.’_ Patton silently begged. The tension was palpable as even the room itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting for Deceit to finish whatever he was trying to do. Roman gave Patton’s shoulder a gentle squeeze with the hand that wasn’t still tightly clutching Virgil’s. Patton knew he was trying again to be reassuring but the action did little to calm his overwhelming nerves.

Logan's eyes flew open as he gasped desperately for air.

“Logan!” Patton quickly moved forward, as Deceit’s eyes opened.

“Oh god, Lo,” Deceit’s tone sounded strangely foreign to the others as he rushed to help Logan sit up. The man in his arms was still struggling to catch his breath.

“It’s okay, Logan. Take your time. Just breathe,” Patton said, words full of relief while he grabbed his gloves and hastened to put them on.

“Logan, you absolute idiot! What were you thinking?” Deceit was quick to start scolding the younger man despite still holding him protectively against his chest.

“I- I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry. Thank you so much for saving my life.” Logan was still a bit breathless as he spoke. “Wait, Dee, are you- ?”

“Don’t say it,” he half-heartedly threatened while moving one arm from around Logan in order to wipe away the unwanted tears staining his cheeks. Logan decided not to respond. Instead, he had a tiny smile as he laid his head on Deceit’s shoulder, an action that seemed oddly familiar in comparison with his usual icy exterior. Patton felt a small pang of an emotion he’d rather not name as he watched the two men interact so casually, but he pushed it down in order to focus on what was really important at the moment.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he crouched next to Deceit.

“Tired, honestly. But I’ll be alright.”

“You better. Because there’s no way we’re letting you die on our watch, Calculator Watch,” Roman said while walking over and extending a hand to help Logan up, relief evident in his expression. Deceit released Logan and he took it. He was a little shaky as he got to his feet, but Roman was quick to wrap his friend in a tight embrace. “You’re not allowed to die on us ever again, got it?”

“Deal.” Logan let out a soft laugh as Roman let go of him in favor of putting an arm around him to help support him while Logan regained his bearings.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Logan,” Virgil added, giving him a half smile. Patton stood as Logan thanked Virgil, but he was a bit surprised when Deceit didn’t stand alongside him the way he’d expected.

“Hold on, Patton. Do you want the cup too?”

“What?”

“Do you want me to fix your mug?” Deceit looked up at Patton expectantly, catching him off guard.

“Yes, please. But only if you can. I don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

“I’m fine. But you all have to move back again,” Deceit replied, waiting until after the others followed his instructions before closing his eyes and moving his hands counterclockwise over the shards. Patton, along with the rest of the team, watched in awe instead of worry this time as the ceramic pieces started flying back together until the mug was complete, albeit having risen a few feet in the air. Deceit stopped moving his hands and opened his eyes just in time to catch the mug seconds before it shattered once more.

“Woah.”

Deceit looked up to the sound of Virgil’s shocked statement but he didn’t address it. He simply stood and handed Logan his mug before leaning back on the counter.

“Thank you, Deceit.” Logan set down the now-repaired mug on the section of the counter nearest to him, taking care to keep it far away from the edge, just in case.

“Wow, Deceit I knew you could mess with time, but I’ve never actually seen you do your thing before. That was pretty flippin’ cool,” Roman said, looking at his teammate with a newfound fascination. The other man only replied with a simple shrug.

Patton, unlike the others, watched silently as he realized something his coworkers had yet to piece together. As he studied Deceit, he saw that it wasn’t just relief in his expression but instead, there was exhaustion weighing on his sharp features. If he hadn’t witnessed it himself, he would have found it easy to believe that Deceit had been the one with the near death experience, not Logan. This was especially evident in the way Deceit’s shoulders were hunched as he slouched, relying almost entirely on the counter to keep himself on his feet. Add in the way the man hadn’t even had the energy to answer the others in little more than small motions and it was quite clear to Patton that bringing Logan back from the brink of death along with fixing the Baymax mug had taken a much bigger toll on him than Deceit would ever admit. However, Patton knew better than to bring it up now given the way Deceit was trying his best for the others to view him as a strong unshakeable force who was casually leaning against the counter and staying silent by choice.

“As much as I hate to bring this up right now, the representative guy should be here any second and there’s still food and stuff on the table out there.” Virgil had just finished speaking when, as if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

“I can answer the door,” Logan offered, but Patton was quick to stop him before Logan even had the chance to move from Roman’s supportive hold.

“No, I got it. You need to rest.” Patton made his way over to the front door, the others following nervously in his wake. They watched from a slight distance as Patton opened the door to not one, but two men. Everyone except for Virgil let out a sigh of relief as they recognized the smaller of the two.

“Hi guys, it’s so great to see you again! This is Thomas, he’s a new recruit so our Superiors sent me to help him out.”

“Emile!” Patton exclaimed, already beaming. “We haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I know, it’s been too long. Work has kept me super busy.”

“Well either way, it’s really great to see you.” Patton opened the door more so Emile and Thomas could walk inside before closing it after them. “I love your new hair color,” he added, noting the man’s dyed light electric blue hair.

“Thanks. I really liked the pastel pink, but I felt like a change, y’know?” Emile explained as he made his way over to Virgil and held his hand out for the other man to shake. “Hey there, I’m Emile Picani. You must be Virgil.”

Virgil tensed as he hesitantly shook Emile’s hand, staying silent in what Patton assumed was an attempt to keep a sarcastic quip from slipping out.

“Okay, so where do you wanna do the demonstration of your powers?” Thomas asked his question in an upbeat tone, trying in vain to get all their minds off what would happen with Virgil if this ‘demonstration’ didn’t go the way the team hoped. However, judging by the way this day had been going so far, their chances were slim at best.

“Let’s go to the roof, that’s where we’ve been training,” Deceit suggested, motioning to the door leading to the stairs as he spoke.

“I agree.”

It took Logan a moment after speaking before being able to move from his position leaning against the wall, but after waving off Roman’s offer of help, he soon made his way to the door and began to lead the way up the stairs with the others at his heels. Patton had begun to follow only to be stopped short by a hand grabbing his arm and pulling him into the kitchen.

“Wha- ?”

“Shhh.”

“Deceit what are you doing?” Patton whispered, glancing over his shoulder and watching the doorway as the door closed behind Thomas leaving the downstairs area empty aside from them.

“Hold on. We need to wait until we’re sure they’re upstairs.”

“Alrighty.” Deceit’s hand was like a vice on his arm, tight enough that he could feel how cold it was through the thin material of his long sleeved shirt. “Umm.. Dee?” He glanced down at the same moment that Deceit seemed to realize he was still holding Patton and he was quick to release his coworker.

“Sorry about that, but I needed to talk to you alone. I’ve tried not doing it, though I don't know why but this day only works if we do have this talk." Deceit's words rushed as he spoke in the same hushed tone as before. As he leaned back on the counter once more to keep himself stable, Patton observed that he was still significantly more pale than before he had used his powers earlier that morning.

"Deceit, kiddo, are you doing okay?"

"You do know I'm two years older than you, right?" He replied with a feeble attempt at a comforting smile.

"I know that. But you didn't answer my question."

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound too sure about that," Patton said gently before continuing, "You can always come talk to me if something's bothering you."

"Really, I can assure you, I'm fine. But my well-being doesn't matter right now and besides, that's not what I have to talk to you about. Today has to go well."

"Yeah, I really hope things go well too," Patton agreed with a nod.

"Patton you don't understand. It _needs_ to go well. If something goes wrong and Thomas decides to take Virgil with him, you have to promise me you won't let that happen and you'll use your powers to stop them."

"What? No. I'm not hurting anyone the way I almost hurt Logan this morning." Patton took a small step back from Deceit, scared by the very notion of that happening ever again, much less on the same day Logan nearly died.

"That's not what I meant. But if Virgil gets taken, that’s it. Either he’ll get killed the second Thomas turns him in or, even worse, the next time we see him, he’ll be our enemy and that never turns out well.”

“Dee, I know we’re all worried and stressed out because of what might happen, but I’m sure it can’t be as bad as you’re imagining. Our Superiors wouldn’t hurt him unless he’s a major threat, the way they thought he was in the first place. I’m sure if they meet him, they’ll see Virgil for the sweetheart he is and none of what you said will happen. But I’m sorry, I’m not agreeing to killing Thomas or whatever it is you want me to do.”

“Killing?” Deceit asked, sounding a bit surprised. “No, of course I don’t want you to do that. Thomas could be a potential ally. But I do need you to swear to using your powers in the persuasion way we practiced. Just put all your focus into keeping him alive and when you touch him, he’ll pretty much fall in love with you.”

“I don’t want to make Thomas into some kind of obsessed minion, we just met! Plus, he seems nice like Emile,” Patton reasoned.

“The way people seem can be different from the way they actually are, but don’t worry this is only a worst-case-scenario sort of promise. Besides, as long as it’s only a quick touch and you stay focused on him not dying, you won’t drain his life force like what happened with Logan. And as soon as you tell him to tell the Superiors to leave Virgil with us, you can just think about it and mentally give up your control on him so the obsession won’t last too long. The only other ways his life force could be drained is if you touch him for a long time or mentally and consciously keep your control over him. As long as we ensure neither happens, everything will go smoothly.”

“Like before when I used it so we could get the key to Virgil’s room to arrive there before him?” Patton asked hesitantly. “That wasn’t so bad and I gave up control before anything happened to the desk clerk.”

“Exactly. Everyone wins and no harm comes to anyone. So please, just make me that promise.” Deceit’s imploring gaze made Patton reconsider his instinct to tell the other man ‘no’. Deceit looked borderline frantic at this point, his dark brown eye seeming to hold a thousand secrets the man desperately wanted to spill, yet knew he never could.

“Okay, I promise,” Patton finally conceded. “I’ll use my powers as a last resort.”

“Thank you,” Deceit said, letting out a sigh of relief Patton hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Deceit’s body visibly relaxed. “This means a lot. Now, let’s get going. We should go to the roof already. Hopefully the others haven’t felt our absence too much.”

Deceit pushed himself off of the counter to stand on his own. He was a bit unsteady and though Patton already knew Deceit wouldn’t accept any help Patton could give, he offered nonetheless.

“Want to take my arm? Just until we get up the stairs. Then you can go to the nearest seat if you’d like that instead.”

“No thank you.” Deceit took one wobbly step forward before hesitating and surprising them both and saying something else, “On second thought, yes please. But only up the stairs.”

“You got it, kiddo.” Patton beamed at the other man as Deceit took his arm and, with Patton’s help, they soon reached the roof in no time.

However, unbeknownst to them as they walked into the open area, Logan, Roman, and Virgil had been doing their best efforts to stall the inevitable. They’d tried making casual conversation with Emile, asking Emile a thousand questions about how the press has viewed the heroes lately, and even gotten Thomas to tell them the story of how he’d gotten a job working under the Superiors. The last one was unfortunately not as interesting as the former two, considering all Thomas had done was send in his resume to apply for a position in government, go to an interview, and sign a non-disclosure agreement once he was hired.

“Oh, great! Deceit and Morality are here so we can get started,” Thomas said as he saw Patton and Deceit make their way over to the group.

“Yeah,” Deceit agreed, giving Patton a knowing glance as he sat down.

“Okay, Virgil. Go ahead whenever you’re ready.” Emile gave Virgil an encouraging smile after speaking, but it did nothing to stop the small tremors beleaguering his frail frame nor to slow the feeling that his heart was about to beat out of his chest. Nevertheless, he grabbed one of the small beanbags they’d been using to practice and gingerly turned it over in his hands.

Virgil could feel their eyes on him and much like at all the practices for the past month, there was no escaping the pressure. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore as they watched with bated breath but, like so many times before, the beanbag didn’t explode.

“Uh, Virgil, nothing’s happening.” Thomas’s words were practically a whisper, breaking the tense silence. A few minutes had passed since Virgil had picked up the beanbag. Virgil’s eyes flew open and he didn’t pause to think before snapping back at Thomas.

“You don’t think I know that? We failed. Go ahead and celebrate because you can take me away and kill me now.” Virgil spat venomously at Thomas. He slammed the beanbag on the table which was piled with others on the off chance that Virgil had actually succeeded and they needed more backup beanbags. Virgil was trembling more than before as he turned on his heel and walked away from the table, pacing back and forth as he quickly began spiraling thanks to the dark thoughts flooding his mind.

“Hey, Hot Topic-” Roman started tentatively.

“I should have known this wouldn’t work.” Virgil spoke vehemently, unaware that Roman had even said a word.

“Yo, Charlie Frown, turn around.”

“I knew better than to get my hopes up,” Virgil mumbled miserably, leaving Roman without a response yet again.

“Virgil!” Roman shouted, grabbing the other man’s shoulders in a final effort to get his attention once and for all.

“What is it, Roman?” Virgil acknowledged him at last but Roman merely spun him around to look at the table as it finished corroding fully and exploded in a brilliant red, orange, and purple blast.

“You did it!” Roman hollered over the noise, pulling Virgil into a tight hug.

“No, we did it. If you guys hadn’t shown me to let myself feel emotions more deeply like that without pushing them down to keep myself in check, there’s no way I could’ve pulled that off.”

Virgil grinned up at Roman as the taller man pulled back so his arms were now only loosely wrapped around Virgil. They were only inches apart now. In a matter of moments, Virgil was already completely lost in Roman’s dazzling brown eyes. And, for a fraction of a second, Virgil had the urge to grab the front of Roman’s stupidly well fitting t-shirt and pull him into what felt like the natural reaction to being this close. Virgil’s breath caught in his throat as Roman eyes searched his own and he knew Roman was thinking the same thing he was.

At least, he’d thought he had figured out what Roman was thinking, but instead the other man pulled back, quickly releasing Virgil with a puzzled expression gracing his handsome features. It was for the best, Virgil knew. He wouldn’t have wanted to kiss Roman anyways, he told himself. They’d only known each other for a month, after all. The rest of the team plus two visitors was on the roof too and would have seen what would have been nothing more than a foolish mistake. Virgil turned back to face the remnants of the explosion as he reminded himself that these feelings probably only existed because they’d gotten so caught up in the moment.

Yet if that were the case, how come being so close to Roman felt so _right?_ Virgil sighed, deciding that he would never understand the stranger that felt nothing like a stranger. Instead, he glanced at Roman once more before looking away from the man’s plastered on smile. He looked back at the people who had come to decide his fate.

“Good job, Virgil. That was pretty impressive.” Thomas smiled as he spoke, appearing glad that he wouldn’t have to take Virgil after all.

“You guys did a great job,” Emile praised. “In fact, we could even start work today on Virgil’s name and press release as well as his place on the team.”

Emile had just finished speaking when they heard a crash from behind several large potted plants the team had set up next to the small garden they had started in an effort to make the roof more homey while Virgil trained.

“Who’s there? Reveal yourself,” Logan demanded.

“Ow, damn. Calm down, gurl. I’m not a threat or any of that B.S.,” said the disembodied voice. “Oh shi-”

“Come out here now,” Logan ordered as they heard another clatter come from behind the plants.

“Fiiine.”

Virgil watched the leaves rustle before a man he’d never seen before climbed out from behind them. He was dressed simply in a black jacket, white t-shirt, and jeans, but Virgil could already tell this guy was anything but simple. From his dyed purple hair to his sunglasses to the professional-looking camera hanging around his neck, Virgil had a bad feeling that all this stranger would bring was trouble.

“Well I hope you’re happy,” the man turned to Logan with a bored expression before continuing, “You made me spill my white chocolate mocha frappuccino.”

“Oh no, not you again.” Emile spoke with such exasperation it was evident he and the man had history.

“Great to see you too,” the stranger responded dryly, taking a sip of what was left of his drink from his Starbucks cup.

“What are you doing here?”

“Listen, sweets, don’t get mad or whatevs. I’m just here to get the scoop.” With that, the man set down his drink on a nearby chair before lifting his camera and taking a picture of what was left of the table and beanbags.

“Hey! Delete that!” Emile said, quickly making his way over to the other man.

“Yeah, imma pass on that one babe,” the man replied with a laugh, picking up his drink and taking another sip with a smirk.

“Remy, I swear to god. I know we didn’t leave things on the best of terms when we last saw each other, but you still need to delete that photo.” Emile kept walking towards Remy who, in turn, made no move to try and avoid Emile.

“Ohhh you’re real funny babe, but like, nah. This is a money pic so, like, there’s no way I’m getting rid of it now,” Remy retorted coolly. “And as for how we left stuff last time, I know I’m hot shit and I don’t need your B.S. bringing me down. So, like, if you don’t see that then too bad, but I ain’t about to ditch the photo of a lifetime the way _you_ ditched _me._ And ya know what, Em?” Remy lifted his camera again and took a photo of the group of heroes.

“Wait, hold on. You can’t do that!” Patton exclaimed.

“Boom! I’ve got the cover of my new book right there. Thanks, boys!” Remy let go of his camera so it could hang around his neck again. He pushed back his brown satchel, which had swung forward since it was so full it was practically spilling papers, before turning and starting back the way he’d come.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Deceit snapped, grabbing the collar of Remy’s jacket to pull him back before he could make his escape.

“Woah, sis, chill the F out. I’m not gonna actually include your faces in the covers, obvi. If that’s what y’all are stressin’ over, then, like, chillax because imma just crop ‘em out or cover them up with your logos. I haven’t decided yet.” Remy spoke casually, as if being a prospective superhero who doesn't want a strange photographer to leak a photo showing your identity and the identity of your new friends who also happened to be famous superheroes was something that happened everyday.

“We don’t have any guarantee you’ll do what you say,” Deceit argued, letting go of the back of Remy's jacket so Remy could turn around to face him.

“Relax, hon. I’m not an a-hole who’s gonna leak your secret identities and all that shiz. ‘Sides, if I do that, then everyone will know how to find you and I won’t be the only one getting all the hot and juicy deets first. But fine, if you legit wanna crush my dreams, I’ll just put that huge explosion I got a pic of as the cover.”

“It’s not that simple, Remy. No one can know about the explosion or about the corroded table,” Emile explained.

“Oh, you did not just say that. Are you for real tryin’ to tell me that I can’t be the one to break the news first about the new super in town?” Remy asked, crossing his arms expectantly.

“He’s not a new superhero, he just got control of his powers. And we haven’t even come up with a name or costume for him yet so he can be added officially,” Emile said.

“Hold up, seriously?”

“Yup. So I need you to wait before releasing anything to the press.” Emile looked pleadingly at the Remy who studied him silently. “Please, Remy. As a favor for an old friend.”

“....okay, fine.”

“Thanks, Rem.”

“But I wanna know more about this dude. That way when I spill the tea, I got all the right info,” Remy added.

“Deal. You’ll be the first we tell once everything is in place for the public to know,” Emile agreed, much to Virgil’s surprise.

“Wait, you’re really gonna let this guy who probably climbed the side of the building to get up here know about my superhero persona first?” Virgil asked, looking between Emile and Remy questioningly.

“Oh, for sure. He’s pretty neat once you get to know him.”

“You literally said ‘oh no’ when you saw him,” Virgil deadpanned.

“Ehh, it’s a pretty common reaction to seeing me,” Remy said before Emile could respond. He turned back to Emile to add, “I am totally not bothered, sweetie. So, like, no worries. Though now that my mind’s on the topic, what if I help your little gangsey come up with the emo man’s signature look™?"

“Did you just say the letters ‘™’, as in trademark, aloud?” Logan failed to keep the judgement out of his tone as he arched an eyebrow at Remy.

“Yes I did.”

“Alright then. What credentials do you possess which you believe would suffice in making you qualified as a candidate to aid our effort to assist Virgil in the creation of his costume which will serve to conceal his identity?”

“Okay, listen up, biatch. I studied costume design in college, so I know what the F imma be talkin’ about. Plus I know like, everything there is to know about you supers. I mean, I legit was the one who first told the world about Creativity. Hence the reason I’m writing a whole frickin’ book about you guys.”

“To be fair, that does sound like some pretty solid credentials,” Roman admitted. Logan sighed and Virgil could tell Logan knew when he was beat.

“I suppose you may be in possession of certain skills that may prove to be a useful contribution to the process,” he conceded.

“Okay, it’s settled. Let’s get to work.” Emile faced Thomas before continuing, “Tell our Superiors I’ll be staying to resume work as the team’s public relations manager. And also tell them not to worry about sending a designer since we’ve got things under control here.”

“You got it. I’ll see you when you get back to headquarters,” Thomas replied. Virgil watched as Thomas made his way back downstairs before turning back to the others as Remy took a final sip of his drink and started to speak.

“Alright, gang. Sounds like we have a costume to make.”


End file.
